KINGSTON, N.Y. -- State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill says he'll work with opposition groups to challenge the state Public Service Commission's ruling that Fortis Inc. can buy Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.'s parent company for $1.5 billion.

Cahill, speaking during a press conference on Tuesday, said the case was mishandled, but he conceded the ruling could be difficult to overturn.

"We are now reviewing what options we have to go forward," said Cahill, D-Kingston. "Quite honestly, it's not a very promising prospect. The Public Service Commission is generally not overturned by the courts. Even less frequently does the Public Service Commission reverse itself and render a decision different from the decision they made."

The commission ruled unanimously earlier this month that Canada-based Fortis could buy CH Energy Group. The takeover was proposed in early 2012.

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Cahill said the commissioners should have set an additional comment period because Fortis made changes to its takeover bid only two weeks before the commission approved the deal.

"The package that the Public Service Commission ultimately ruled on was a package that was presented to them after the (May 24) deadline for submission of documents having to do with the merger," the assemblyman said. "There was never a public hearing, never any public discussion, never an opportunity for an evidentiary hearing, so there are procedural questions involved."

Four public hearings on the proposal, at which all comments opposed the takeover, were held prior to May 24, and the Public Service Commission did not hold any evidentiary hearings, at which company officials would have been questioned.

Cahill, who previously chaired the Assembly's Energy Committee, said that, among other things, Fortis was given lenient terms regarding benefits to help struggling customers.

"The actual results of the package don't match up to that which was required of any other utility in the state when those acquisitions took place," he said. "So the ratepayers in Ulster County and in Central Hudson (eight-county) service area got a raw deal."

Cahill also said Fortis should be closely scrutinized to make sure terms of the buyout are followed, and he said the new owner's promise of a rate freeze through June 30, 2015 opens the door to reviews of whether Central Hudson may be charging customers too much.

"I'm going to petition the Public Service Commission to take a look at those rates, since they receive record rates compared to any other utility in the state," Cahill said of Central Hudson.

CH Energy spokesman John Maserjian on Wednesday said current rates are based on company expenses already reviewed by the commission.

"So, going forward, any increases in our operating costs will not be reflected in the rates our customers will pay," he said. "After the rate freeze, should we move forward with another rate plan, it would be based on our projected costs going forward."